Dragon Quest VIII/Headscratchers

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Isn't there a descendent still alive?

Despite Sir Leopold killing Marta, her son Marek is still very much alive at the end of the encounter. Even though he didn't necessarily want to carry on the responsibility of the descendants in keeping Rhapthorne sealed inside the scepter, he's still Marta's son. There's no indication that intent or willingness is a necessary component of being a descendant; as long as you're part of a sage's family tree, that should be enough, right? If Marek is still alive, wouldn't that be enough to keep the seal intact?

  • Maybe, like Jessica, he's not the "Chosen" heir.
    • Maybe it has something to do with the way she died? she was killed by the Rhapthorn-possesed Sir Leopold, you can even see the seal breaking after Rhapthorn kills each sage.

The Puff Puff attack:

Is supposed to be Marshmallow Hell of some sort, so why Jessica turns her back to the enemy while preparing said attack?

  • Obviously, to conceal the fact that she's whipping out a pair of slimes.
    • .......... -(facepalm)-
  • If you were in a battle, would you let your opponent inflict a marshmallow hell on you if you saw it coming? It's a double bluff. If it was something that looked harmless, you'd suspect a trick, and stop it. If it looked like trickery, you'd try and stop a trick that might not be there, allowing the actual plan to go ahead. In short, in order to pull it off she resorts to mind screw.

Marcello:

After he is defeated and saved by Angelo, he just limps off never to be seen again in the game. Honestly, I find this rather implausible. This is MARCELLO we're talking about. I don't believe he's the sort of person to just vanish while his enemies are hailed as heroes and with Rolo ending up the lord high priest. I didn't expect sunshine and puppies forgiveness/reconcilliation, but I also didn't expect Marcello to just disappear. I get the feeling that more was supposed to happen between Angelo and Marcello. I know that life isn't wrapped in a bow and some things have no closure, but I will always find it hard to swallow that this is one of them.

  • I reckoned he just went off walking the world or whatever it is people do after losing everything. I wasn't happy with the conclusion either, but I'm not sure how else it would have been done.
    • I assumed he ran into an angry mob as soon as he left and got stoned to death.

What was the point of knowing Empyrea's real name at the end?

Really, it came totally left field, right after the final boss no less. OK, so she was named as such by the people that believed her to be a God, but she never bothered to correct them that Empyrea wasn't her name, let alone she wasn't a God?

  • Its a shout-out and Continuity Nod; Lamia/Ramia appeared under her real name in Dragon Quest III (where she was hatched by the main character), which took place on a different world, as the party's flying vehicle. Revealing her real name was basically saying "yes, this is the same character, not just an alternate universe version".